


Serotiny

by demon_dream



Series: Like the Desert needs Rain [3]
Category: Boku no Hero Academia
Genre: African Mythology, Courtship, F/M, Fairy Tales, I'm Not Apologizing, LTDNR: Stealing Fire Arc, Marriage Contracts, magic(?), play that funky music, the start of something terrible, when the bard comes to town
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 09:29:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15116564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demon_dream/pseuds/demon_dream
Summary: Ladies and gentlemen, gather around the fire. A traveller has come to town with stories from abroad! Spare him but a moment of your time and possibly a cup of water.He's thirsty, and out here on the plains we never tire of secrets. Especially scandalous ones. Come closer, closer still, and let him regale you with a tale of power, betrayal, and that most ancient yet common of crimes: reaching for the stars heedless of how they burn.





	Serotiny

_Come, listen! Circle up, circle up. The_ griot _has come to town, see him? He's setting up in the square. His wrists jingle with bells, he spins the balafon mallets with nimble fingers and winks at how the ladies blush. Come, listen to the news from abroad, he's clearing his throat. Someone fetch this man some water!_  
    _He's dramatic, but that's natural. Heavy pauses, wide gestures. He's got exotic hair gone wild from the road, and his teeth are filed sharp. Who is he? Some far-off cannibal warrior from feral lands, abandoning his days of war and wildness to roam the desert with a kora-lute?  
   Don't be such a romantic. Shush, shush, he's starting_!  
***  
   Far to the west and across a stretch of water is the island of Goree. The people that live there are just like you and me. They farm, they fish, they love their parents and respect their ancestors. The people of Goree are very particular about love, actually. Their women are beloved, and suitors must be prepared for that. It's hard to prize a jewel from a king's hand, you know.  
   But of all the lovely women of Goree island, there were none like the Yumboe. These people live under the hills of the island, only coming out to dance and feast in the moonlight, and no wonder! They look like fallen stars themselves, all silvery-white like Yoonir in its glory. Each of them has a waterfall's worth of hair that glitters like dewy spider-silk, and they have so much magic that this hair floats even without wind to blow it. Some of them are very small, but a rare Yumboe is born tall, and they can look still taller when they bend the moonlight into illusions about them. It's good fortune that most Yumboe are shorter than the little miss hugging your leg, or else every man in Senegal would have tried to steal himself a starry bride!  
   That's not to say that no man ever tried, of course.  
   I'm sure the story of the legendary Chief Todoroki has been beaten to death by now, it's a popular one. You know, the yarn about the man who wears burning bits of rope in his beard, and killed a witch to learn the secrets of taming fire like a dog? Well, there's more to a man than the number of slaves he owns, or how many villages he's burned to the ground. Men like a woman to come home to, and eventually Chief Todoroki got it into his head that it was high time for that. No ordinary woman would do, naturally. The man is a legend, and his wife must be beyond compare! Submissive villages brought their daughters to him in droves, some shivering, some proud, but he turned them aside like a rock does the river. None moved him. None were worthy enough.  
   He wanted a son he could teach his secrets to, because no man is immortal and even legends have their graves.  
   Chief Enji did take concubines, and had whole lodges dedicated to their use. He strutted about like a great wild ox, and accepted tribute from weaker tribes in all forms. Still, most of these were human-shaped treaties rather than true wives, and he hungered for a prize beyond all others to grace his royal bed. A living embodiment of his power, a bridled broodmare that inspired awe even chained to the beam of his hut. The man who had no time to waste on warnings or prophecies bent his ear to the wandering _griots_ , took his warriors across the savannah like a great elephant forging across the landscape. The entirety of his vast power bent to the task like tongues of flame chasing scraps of fresh air, until finally a lone raggedy man was thrown at Chief Todoroki's feet.  
   Terrified and thirsty from the journey, the man's brain babbled out of his mouth. He knew nothing of real import, knew no great witches that could stand the sight of the king of fire. He dared not speak of the Rain Queen to this man who had tried and failed to conquer her. What else could he offer to spare his own hide but fairy tales?  
   The chief listened well, smoke drifting about his fierce jaw and blazing eyes. The chief listened well, and remembered.  
   That very night, runners took off for distant Goree, and by the time the moon was half-swallowed by shadows they had returned with news of the starry Yumboe.  
   All tremble in fear and awe of Chief Todoroki's might, it is true. But one does not conquer tribe upon tribe by being a boneheaded idiot. If even a portion of the rumors were true, offending a people with powerful magic could be more trouble than it was worth. This would require a more subtle tactic, and observance of all necessary rites. He would get himself a bride and claim indisputable right to her. Anything less than complete and utter victory in this would be a weakness others could prey upon, and he was not the sort to leave gaps in his fingers through which treasures could escape.  
***  
    _There's nothing so sweet as cool water on a parched throat, thank you. Give me a moment to collect myself, the story is a long one to tell for a man who's just trekked the savannah._

**Author's Note:**

> griot: a traveling storyteller, see bard and skald  
> bafalon: a traditional intstrument comparable to the xylophone  
> kora: a traditional string instrument  
> Yumboe: a race of silvery-white people about two feet tall, who live under the hills of Goree. They come out at night to eat and dance, and are served by the hands of mostly-invisible servants.  
> Yoonir: the star sacred to the Serer religion, see Sirius.


End file.
